Building construction



Dec. 20, 1938. G. SLAYTER ET AL BUILDING CONS TRUCTI ON Filed May 17, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l s m .m 0 1 m i WWW d r. 60 mw 00 ATTORNEY. S

G SLAYTER ET AL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed May 17, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1NVENTOR5 Games Slayter BYv Howardw QoHinS ATTORNEY.5

Patented Dec. 20, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BUILDING CONSTRUCTION tion of Ohio Application May 17, 1937, Serial No. 143,201

6 Claims.

This invention relates generally to prefabricated buildings and refers more particularly to improvements in preformed wall sections adapted for use in prefabricated buildings.

In order to bring homes comprising the building methods and conveniences demanded today within the reach of a greater portion of the general public, the costs of a home must be substantially lowered. One of the most practical ways to do this is to design the house so that the time needed to assemble it is materially decreased. Towards this end the applicants have invented a base panel .unit which may be easily assembled in a small fraction of the time necessary to install base panels as they exist today. In .the present day construction, base panels are secured to the wall near the front line by nails or screws and molding is secured to the foot of the base panel at the floor line. Much time is lost mitering corners, and the base boards are not easily removed. Also, in the present day construction electrical outlet boxes of the floor plug variety are normally placed in the wall proper above the base panels. This necessitates the'cutting out of a portion of the wall, installing the outlet box, plastering up around the opening, and attaching a plate to the front of the box. The electrical conductors supplying these outlet boxes are normally positioned within the wall.

This method of construction does not lend itself to the rapid installation of the original electrical supply means installed in a house and, furthermore, makes it very diflicult for later repair or addition of future outlet boxes and the like. The

applicants base panel unit comprises a base board removably attached to the wall which utilizes a corner construction comprising a corner plate, and saves considerable time and expense of labor by utilizing the plate as a means to conceal the ends of the base board where they approach the corners of the room and to also act as a face plate for an electrical outlet box installed in the corners of the room.

Thus the object of the applicants invention is to provide a-pre-formed base panel unit which is quickly :and easily assembled within a given room and in which corner plates are used in the corners both to conceal the edges of the panel sections and to provide a face plate for electrical outlet boxes of the floor plug type.

A further object of the invention is to construct a base panel of a design to conceal or carry the electrical conductors necessary to supply the outlet boxes of a particular room. Astill further object of the invention is to provide a base panel which may be easily removed, thus allowing, among other things, practical addition of further outlet boxes.

With the foregoing as well as other objects in view, the invention resides in the novel details of construction illustrated and about to be described.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a portion of a room with a base panel unit installed; 10

Fig. 2 is a sectional View taken substantially on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view on lines 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view taken on' lines 15 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 shows a portion of a base panel with an electrical outlet box in the side thereof;

Fig. 6 is a section on line 66 of Fig. 5 showing how the wires may be carried; 20

Fig. 7 is a modified form of the base panel unit showing the corner plate used only as such.

With reference to the drawings more in detail, the base panel unit comprises the base board I'll in conjunction with base shoe 'I I, metal cap I2 '25 and the corner plate I3, in place with respect to the wall M. The wall I4 as shown comprises wall board I5 fastened to studding I6 in the normal building manner. The lower edge H of the wall board is spaced from the floor I8 about 30 six inches or the height of the base board I0. Secured to the floor or studding and extending the same distance along the wall I4, is base shoe II having a groove I9 extending the length thereof. The board In is seated in the groove of 35 the shoe and in this position the top 20 of the board extends a short distance above the lower edge I 'I' of the wall, concealing the latter from room view. Numerous means are available to maintain the board ID in place against the wall 40 It. One very satisfactory way is to secure metal tabs 2I to the room side 22 of the wall board I5 as close to the lower edge Il thereof as possible. These tabs may be spaced at specified intervals along the wall, one every foot or so being suffi- 45 cient. A cap i2 comprising a metal strip of inverted channel shape extending the full length of the board I0 is seated over the top 20 thereof. The side 23 of the cap is forced in between the tabs and the wall I5, thus holding the base board 5.0 in a firm yet easily removable position with relation to the wall I5. For the sake of neatness, the room side or outer face 24 of the board is slightly grooved as at 25 so that portion 26 of the strip will fit into the groove 25.

The corners 2'! of the unit comprise a corner plate l3 which may be of metal or molded plastic construction. This plate is shaped to engage the corners 28 of the wall slightly above the top 20 of the base board ID. The plate then extends out and down in front of the base board to engage the floor. The edges 29 and 30 of the corner plate are designed to conceal the ends of the base boards l0, shoe H and the cap l2. The plate is secured to the corner studding 3! by screws 32 which extend through openings 33 in the face of the plate.

In the preferred construction as shown in Figs. 1 to 4, the plate is used as a face plate for electrical outlet box 34. If the space between the studding 3| and the plate I3 is not sufficient to conceal the outlet box 34, the studding may be notched to allow insertion of the box. The electrical outlet box used by the applicants is of the standard construction approved by the underwriters, having a wall portion removable to allow all connections to be made within the box. Conductors 36 encased in cables 31 extend from outlet box 34 to another outlet box in a further corner of the room and are concealed by base board Hi. If the diameter of the cables 3'! is not greater than the width of the wall board !5, they will fit between the board it) and the studding M as shown in Fig. 6. If the cables are larger, the studding may be grooved or apertured to allow extension of the cable from one outlet box to another.

The modification illustrated in Fig. 5 shows a face plate 40 of an electrical outlet box of the same type as 34. It is held in place on the board l9 by screws M in a conventional manner. Cables 3'! conducting electric-a1 conductors are shown in phantom running to and from the box. They are shown as held in place by the tabs 42. This construction shows how easily further electrical outlet boxes may be added to the base board ID if the outlet boxes in the corners do not meet the electric-a1 needs of a particular room. In Fig. 6 the tab 42 shows how the cables 3'! may be attached to the board ID if desired. Fig. 6 also shows a modification of the cap [2 which holds the board l0 in place with relation to the wall board 15. This cap 43 also runs the full length of the base board I!) and is substantially S-shaped in cross section. When this type of cap is used the tabs 2| are not needed. The portion 44 of the strip fits over the top 20 and into a groove 25. The portion 45 of the strip slidably engages both sides of the wall board l5 and extends below the bottom ll a distance slightly more than the depth of the groove 25 Thus when the cap 43 is raised so that the portion 45 engages the bottom I! of theboard,the top portion 44 will clear the top 20 of the board, allowing it to be tilted outwardly into the room to the approximate position shown by the dotted lines and then removed from the shoe ll if desired.

Fig. 7 is of the same construction as Fig. 1 except that the plate has not been perforated for use as a face plate of an electrical outlet box. It merely operates as a corner plate for concealing the ends of the base board, base shoe and cap. The space normally occupied by outlet box such as 34 may be used to conceal a junction box (not shown) for the joining of ends of electrical conductors according to underwriting requirements.

Having thus described our invention, it will clearly be seen from the foregoing description that the corner construction using a bare corner plate such as shown in Fig. 7 and outlet boxes as shown in Fig. 5 would be an obvious modification to the applicants preferred construction. Further modifications will undoubtedly occur to those skilled in the art.

While our invention has been described in some detail, it will be understood that the description is for the purposes of illustration only and is not definitive of the limits of the inventive idea, our rights being reserved to make such details in construction and arrangement of parts as will fall within the purview of the following claims.

What we claim as our invention is:

1. In a building construction having angularly arranged adjacent walls defining a corner, an electrical appliance located at the corner adjacent the lower edges of the walls, and base panels extending along the lower portions of the walls removably secured thereto, said panels having adjacent edges spaced from each other a sufficient distance to expose the appliance, a plate extending diagonally between the adjacent edges of the base panels forming in effect a continuation of the latter and concealing said appliance.

2. In a building construction having angularly arranged adjacent walls defining a corner, an electrical appliance located at the corner adjacent the lower edges of the walls, and base panels extending along the lower portions of the walls removably secured thereto, said panels having adjacent edges spaced from each other a sufficient distance to expose the appliance, a plate extending diagonally between the adjacent edges of the base panels forming in effect a continuation of the latter and concealing said appliance, said plate having provisions whereby access to the appliance may be made through the plate.

In a building construction, a floor, two intercepting prefabricated wall sections defining a corner, each of said sections having wall board spaced from the floor, electrical conductors and outlet boxes located in the sections between the floor and the wall boards, means for concealing said conductors and outlet boxes, including base panels extending along the bottom of each wall concealing a portion of said wall board and having adjacent edges spaced from each other, a cap removably engaging the wall board and the paneling, and a plate at the corner extending diagonally between adjacent edges of the base panels to conceal the same, and to act as a face plate for the outlet box.

4. In a building construction, a floor, two adjacent prefabricated wall sections forming a corner, an electrical appliance placed in the wall in the corner formed by the aforementioned walls, said appliance having terminals, electrical conductors located in the walls adjacent the floor and connected in said appliance, means for concealing the appliance and conductors comprising a base panel extending along the bottom of each wall, a cap removably engaging the wall and the panel, and a plate at the corner extending diagonally between adjacent edges of said base panels forming in effect continuation of the latter, said plate also serving as a face for said electrical appliance.

5. In a building construction, a floor, two intersecting prefabricated wall sections defining a corner, each of said sections having electrical conductors located adjacent the floor therein, an electrical appliance located within the sections at said corner, said appliance to be connected 75 to said conductors, means for concealing said conductors and electrical appliance including a base panel extending along the bottom of each wall and removably secured thereto and a plate at the corner extending diagonally between adjacent edges of the base panels, concealing the same, said plate having provisions therein for entrance to said appliance.

6. In a building construction, having a floor, intersecting prefabricated wall sections forming a corner, said sections having paneling spaced from the floor, means for finishing said sections comprising a base board extending along the lower portions of the walls and concealing the lower edge of said paneling, a cap extending along the upper portion of the board removably engaging the wall and the board to maintain the latter in place, a plate extending diagonally between adjacent outer edges of the base panels to conceal the ends thereof.

GAMES SLAYTER.

HOWARD W. COLLINS. 

